Need a Stitch Fix?

In reading my friend Jessica's blog, I learned about Stitch Fix. The name is great.  Basically, when you feel the itch for new clothes, the company will mail you a package of 5 items selected based on a style profile you have completed.  You get to say what types of clothes you are looking for, describe your body type, and rate various outfits as to whether you love them, hate them, etc.

I loved the concept because I'm feeling both excited about the return of "my" body post-pregnancy and my usual inadequacy when it comes to style/fashion.  I'd love some help bringing new looks into my wardrobe!

So who is this a good fit for?  Someone who wants to buy new clothes and wants to be a little more adventurous.  You decide when you want a stitch fix and commit $20.  The items are then selected and sent to you.  If you don't like anything, you can choose to return all 5 items in the pre-paid shipping envelope and you'd be out the $20.  If you choose even one item, the $20 is applied toward the total of that item.  So again, if you are looking to purchase new clothes and are open to something new, then to me, this is a great arrangement!  (and all within the comfort of your home) :)

If you are interested in checking it out, use this link and I'll get a referral credit.

So how did it work out for me?  First, I got a lot of laughs filling out the style profile and affirming that yes, I'm not very stylish.  (It didn't say that, but it was easy to determine this myself!!)  I bet the company knows this too based on my "Any final comments?" remark about me being a nursing mother so easy access shirts/dresses being my priority. :) 

I kept this shirt.  I liked some of the other items but they were a little short for my mommy self :)

The shirt in action

A Day in the Life: Jack & Cora, July 2012

1:03 a.m. - Time to eat, Mom!
1:15 a.m. - Cora is in bed with Mommy (Daddy is sleeping in the guest room these days)
4:04 a.m. - Got milk?
4:20 a.m. - Lights are out - major spit up - too tired to turn lights back on
5:02 a.m. - Mommy?  Cora goes to swing - swing does trick and she falls asleep
7:05 a.m. - Cora starts grunting which wakes Mommy - this is her routine - she'll be waking soon and will be hungry
7:10 a.m. - Jack is awake

Since we are all awake, the whole family gets in bed and reads some books and gets some snuggles

7:28 a.m. - Cora gives her first smile to Daddy; Mommy is lucky enough to see it too

Mommy makes breakfast, Daddy gets a shower, Jack plays garbage trucks (perilously close to Cora)

8:00 a.m. - Mommy, Jack and Cora leave for a walk; Daddy goes to work

Somebody is awake and curious the whole ride

8:20 a.m. - Swing by Arabella St. Fire Station to check out fire engines
8:45 a.m. - Arrive at park; Jack swings and slides; Cora "swings" in Jack's lap
9:30 a.m. - Home and feeding Cora

Build lego fire stations with Jack, change Cora's diaper (and color coordinate it with her clothes - so much fun!), pick up the house

10:05 - Shower for Mommy
10:12 - Fussy baby, back to swing
10:20 - Jack: "I did a poopy - want to come and see it?,"  Since he's already in bathroom, he gets his teeth brushed and dressed.
10:35 - Reading books in Cora's room

Mommy ready to go; Cora: screaming; Jack: "NO!  I don't WANT to!"

10:55 - Everyone is in car
11:10 - Cora in Ergo baby carrier; Jack wearing leash backpack; quick farmer's market visit where Jack eats a peach off the table without buying it and Mommy manages to buy a watermelon and get it and J&C back to car
11:30 - home: Mommy does dishes, Jack plays garbage trucks

Cora gets rocked to sleep while fire trucks crash in the other room

11:55 - Jack and Mommy read Fox in Socks

12:15 - Eat lunch - grilled cheese on farmer's market bread; lychees, cherries, and bananas from the Hong Kong Market (thanks to Daddy)

12:20 - Cora wants to eat too

The couch becomes a garbage truck.

12:45 - Nap routine: read The Jungle Book and Pirates Go to School
1:00 - Soothe crying Cora, Mommy soothed by chocolate

34 minutes of quiet: Mommy reads chapter for Sunday School lesson

1:34 - "Mommy...I didn't take a nap but I was quiet."  Mommy sets timer for 25 more minutes and Jack gets back in bed with instructions to read.
1:56 - "Mommy, I need to poopy".  And boy does he.

Jack emerges from quiet time in a super sweet mood.  He has been saying "That will be a good idea?" after most of his thoughts all day.  Gets me every time.

2:07 - Jack watches first part of Cinderella while Mommy finishes her chapter and checks her email
2:35 - Snacktime for Jack and Mommy
2:52 - Jack: "You want to read this book?"  Mommy trys negotiating a different book because, no, Mommy doesn't want to read that Elmo book again.  We end up reading the Elmo book and another book.
3:10 - Mommy talks to Grammy while Jack wanders off; Cora is still sleeping
3:20 - Up to the dollhouse - Jack is making fire stations and gets Mommy to play "band"

Day starts to feel long

4:00 - Cora wakes up and eats; time out #1 of day

Drum stick goes to time out

4:15 - Diaper change and 2 smiles for Mommy

Time out #2; Mommy sends Jack off to play by himself and puts laundry away and "organizes"

Daddy comes home!  Jack goes outside with Daddy and Mommy rocks Cora and has phone call with friend.

Another kind friend brings dinner by - Jack asks said friend and Mommy "do you wanna play?" no less than 20 times.

Cora starts crying.

Jack gets bath from Daddy.

6:35 - Dinner time!
6:45 - Cora seems to get hungry whenever everyone else is eating.
7:00 - Jack gets teeth brushed and chooses Peter Pan to read
7:15 - Prayers are said and lights are out

Cora spends her evening in the bouncy seat, in Mommy's lap, and being held by Daddy.

9:00 - Bath for Cora
9:18 - Cora eats again
9:35 - Cora is asleep - but for how long?

1 Month Update

Landry Family Updates

Papa Landry - Busy, busy.  Lots going on at work, every other weekend MBA courses and accompanying homework, many landscaping projects...  Enough going on that he was given a pass on nighttime Cora duty and is currently sleeping in the guest room.  He is getting up with Jack in the morning giving me an extra hour of precious sleep.


Mama Landry - Sleepy, sleepy.  The fatigue has caught up with me and I'm yawning.  A lot.  I have gotten awesome help in the last few weeks, from my mom and sister especially, which has made an incredible difference, but the whole sleeping in short chunks has to catch up with a person at some point.  The only major gaffe was when I turned into the oncoming traffic turn lane rather than the correct turn lane yesterday.  Luckily there weren't cars coming and luckily Jacob was there to say "WHAT are you doing?"  Jack then piped up from the backseat, "Mommy wasn't paying attention?"  No, Jack, Mommy is just very tired.

Haha - family 4th of July shot - they were all like this

Jack Landry - This boy is so loved, not just by us but by his extended family as well.  His two grandmothers and his aunts just adore him and it's really special to see.

It makes me feel good to know he feels so securely loved that he has been able to freely share that love with Cora.  I wouldn't have guessed that a 2 year old was capable of the instant and immediate love that a parent has for a new baby, but the way his face lights up whenever Cora is around, makes it seem like Jack was hit with the same love we were.  Good thing I'm passing antibodies to her in my milk because she's gotten lots of wet, slobbery kisses from him in the last month.

Jack continues to bounce between the most precious of creatures to a very willful 2 year old, but he is becoming more reasonable and reflective.  Now when he has a defiant episode, we can talk about it and he will bring it up repeatedly and usually apologizes.

Oh and he's potty trained!!  It finally clicked!

Cora Landry - She's so beautiful.

She is awake more now but still is happy to sleep most of the time.  She nurses great and managed to put on 4 lbs in 4 weeks going from the 50th percentile to the 90-100th at one month.  From 7 lbs, 11 oz to 11 lbs, 12 oz!  So obviously all that time she spent sleeping the last month was actually her growing.

She is a grunter (and the reason Jacob can't swing sleeping with us) and a champion burper.  She doesn't like being flat on her back and is happiest snuggled upright on our chests.  She is usually instantly soothed if you pick her up, so to me, that means she's a social gal and doesn't like to be left alone.

She's my little dress up doll and I could not be having more fun with all her little girl clothes.

She likes bathtime and so do I.  I love how our sink is perfect for bathing a baby (no divider).

5 weeks have flown by, but we are slowly adjusting.  We are tired but truly are enjoying being parents to these two special people.

A Happy Anniversary!

5 productive, happy years with this guy :)  I love you Jacob!

Day 1

Day 1,826 - give or take

Pregnancy Comparisons

 While it's fresh in my mind...

Baby	Jack	Cora
Born	Thursday, December 3, 2009 8:38 p.m.	Saturday, June 9, 2012 4:38 a.m.
Due Date	December 11, 2009	June 23-30, 2012
Days Early	8 days	Probably about 16 days
Weight	8 lbs, 10 oz	7 lbs, 11 oz
Length	21 in	20 in
Birthplace	Touro Infirmary in New Orleans	Touro Infirmary in New Orleans
Time at Hospital	7.5 hours	30 minutes
Length of Labor	27 hours	?? (It’s really hard to pinpoint when my labor went from the contractions I’d been having for months to true labor)
Length of Hard Labor	5-6 hours	1.5 hours
Time Pushing	25 minutes	15 minutes
Labor Experience	Very gradual progression, great guidance by Jacob (making me walk, eat, go to sleep, motivating me, etc.), overwhelming because I didn’t believe it would ever end, draining, me flipping out for much of the last several hours	Wasn’t sure I was in labor till hard labor started, great job by Jacob of getting us from home to hospital, scary because it came on so fast and it took time to get to hospital, no time to flip out, much more aware of the birth experience (vs. being wiped and not in my right mind by the end of Jack’s labor)
Labor Team	Jacob, Mom, Dr. Peret, 3 nurses over the day	Jacob, nurse Bill, and midwife Esther (for the last 10 minutes)
Favorite Pregnancy Memory	Taking Bradley classes with Jacob and preparing together for Jack’s arrival	Being so aware of Cora’s position and watching my belly shift when her little butt would pop up
Hard Parts of Pregnancy	This was an easy pregnancy with very mild nausea and only a few days of round ligament pain around 24 weeks.	Rough nausea at the beginning, lots of fatigue, daily contractions from 23 weeks on, bad backache, lots of pelvic pressure
Pregnancy Cravings	Carbonated fruit drinks (Izzies), drank a lot of peanut butter/banana smoothies	Oatmeal daily, drank a LOT of lemonade as well as Izzies

End Results: